The present invention relates generally to a device for picking-up and removing animal excrement and more specifically, to an improved scoop for removing solid animal waste from pet litter.
The task of removing pet waste materials, such as solid animal waste, from granular materials such as pet litter often involves the use of specialized devices to collect and separate the pet waste from the pet litter. There is a need for a device that may be used to collect and separate pet waste rapidly, with a limited number of physical operations by the user, while minimizing the potential for the pet waste to fall from the collecting device back into the pet litter box.
The use of pet litter or "Kitty Litter" has been known for many years. Recently available pet litter, often referred to as "European style", "scoopable," or "clumpable" pet litter is capable of forming clumps upon contact with moisture, such as urine. As a result, there is a need to separate such clumps of pet litter along with fecal matter from the non-soiled pet litter present in a pet litter box.
The disagreeable task performed by the pet owner of separating pet waste from non-soiled pet litter may involve extensive sifting and searching through the pet litter to discover fecal matter covered by the pet. Currently available scoops for pet litter separation typically require extensive and repetitive searching for pet waste materials in the pet litter. Such devices typically have large, horizontally deposed surfaces upon which pet litter may be placed during searching operations. These known scoops are often shovel-shaped and typically require the user to repeatedly shake the scoop after lifting the scoop from the pet litter. This causes the unsoiled pet litter to be sifted through the scoop back into the pet litter box, leaving the pet waste materials on the upper surface of the scoop.
To prevent pet waste materials from falling back into the pet litter box during sifting, these devices may be provided with walls along the sides and rear portion. Although these walls may help in the sifting activity, the pet waste is frequently sifted off the device back into the pet litter box.
Known pet litter scoops are typically cumbersome to use since care must be taken when shaking the scoop that materials, such as the pet litter or fecal matter, are not inadvertently shaken from the scoop back into the pet litter box. The more vigorously the scoop is shaken, the quicker the material may be sifted. However, vigorous shaking to effect separation may cause recontamination of the pet litter box, thus creating more work for the user. The presence of any pet waste material on the scoop also precludes the ability to use the scoop to further search the pet litter box for more waste. Pet waste materials collected on the surface of the scoop must be disposed of prior to being able to use the device again to search for more pet waste. This prevents the already scooped pet waste from falling from the scoop, back into the pet litter box upon subsequent searches for further pet waste within the pet litter box.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome all of the above problems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel pet litter waste scoop capable of separating pet waste materials from pet litter in a short period of time.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel pet litter waste scoop capable of separating pet waste materials from clumpable pet litter without substantial searching and in a minimum number of operations.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel pet litter waste scoop that is inexpensive to produce.
It is still an object of the present invention to provide a novel pet litter waste scoop that may be shaken vigorously to effect separation while minimizing the loss of pet waste materials back into pet litter box.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel pet litter scoop that allows multiple searches of the pet litter to collect further pet waste without loss of pet waste already collected.